Tales from the Toad and the Stag
by silent-jackal
Summary: Based upon events in the fic Harry Potter and the Marriage Contracts by clelle65619 those events, places and people used with permission. Just how did Harry and Neville end up owning a bar and what happens there. NO PAIRINGS INTENDED
1. Tales of the Toad and the Stag&Takeover

_The Toad and the Stag from clelle65619 ( used with permission. Go read his stuff it rocks._

_Edit AN: url for original story _

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Tales of The Toad and The Stag

Geoffrey looked at his watch and back at the crowd forming outside the club. "Great another night keeping a bunch of touristy loser's out of this place." He thought to himself.

"hey get back to the end of the line man!" someone yelled out of the crowd on the other side of the velvet rope. "Oh goody I get a chance to bounce someone out of here." He looked up with his professional scowl on his face, only to lose it when he saw one of his favorite people coming up the walk.

"Evening Geoffrey." The young man said, his arm wrapped around the waist of a delightful looking young lady in a delicious little red dress.

"Evening Mr. Potter, coming in tonight?" He asked

"Yes please."

The rope was removed and the pair passed through to the entry.

"Why'd you let that kid in?" the same punk from before demanded.

"He bloody well owns the place mate." Geoffrey responded as he closed the door behind them. He heard Candice, the hostess greet them and start to lead them off to the owners table in the back of the bar.

He sighed inside and looked around the outside of the club. It hadn't always been this clean out here, hadn't always been this quiet. This place used to be a haven for druggies, drunks and malcontents the perfect place for the descendant of a nordic troll. He looked human, and as far as these muggles were concerned was human, but he had inherited the strength of his forefathers. He could probably rip the arm off of someone if he had to, but then he would have to deal with Mr Potter or Mr Longbottom. He shuddered as he thought back to the first time he had met the duo soon to own what was to be known as The Toad and The Stag.

**Takeover**

The smoke filled bar room of the Crumbled Horn was unusually silent for a Friday night. All the attention seemed to be focused on a small table in the back of the building. Seated around the table were five people all playing a high stakes game of poker. Two of the players didn't look old enough to be in the bar, not that that mattered to much to these people, they were dirt stained and bore signs of having been in a massive fight not so long ago. When they had walked into the bar Geoffrey, the bouncer, had tried to walk them out for their own good. He had kids of his own this age and he wouldn't want to see them in a place like this. The taller of the two boys, the black haired one with the glasses and the scared forehead, had looked at him with a blank look and said in a quiet voice"Troll-kin, leave us be." He had seen that kind of look before, on retired soldiers who had seen to much, he just moved out of the way and let them pass. How that kid knew he was a Troll-kin he did not know, he decided that even though he let them in that he would keep a watch over them to be sure that they didn't get hurt. The Crumbled Horn was not a safe place for two teens to be at.

The two had walked up to the bar, sat down and the shorter one looked at the barkeep and said "Scotch and leave the bottle." before slapping a 100 pound note on the bar. The two sat there for half the night just tossing back scotch and making toasts like "Cedric! Best competitor I ever had!" and "Mum and Dad!"

At some point in the evening the usual poker game got started in the back, everything was being bet from money and drugs to cars and other property. The owner of the bar was the one who normally got the game rolling, he had won the bar from the previous owner and was compulsive about gambling. He had a secret however, he was playing with a marked deck, and whenever the stakes got high enough he would use that knowledge to win the pot. The two kids had wandered over during the initial phase of the game and watched with interest.

"5 grand and two cards"

"call and three cards"

"call and one card"

"Lets see em boys." That was the owner talking, he had bowed out earlier in the round

"3 of a kind, Eights with a King"

"Damn! Only a pair of 4's well I'm out" the loser got up out of his seat and somehow the black haired kid got put in the seat.

"3 of a kind as well, 9's with a Jack" The winner scooped up his money and the other loser got up, to be replaced by the shorter of the two kids.

"Ok kids, there are some rules here that you need to know if you are going to play in my game. First off my names Jack and this is my bar." Jack started off pleasantly "We are playing 5 card draw poker no limit on the betting, but only two rounds of betting. You boys know how to play?"

"Sure," said the scar headed kid "been watching for a little while should be all right."

"Yeah we are good." The other boy said quietly

"All right then, you need to show some money to play here boys and given how high these games get you better have a lot." Jack continued "Also, we don't like using real names here, aside from me so I am going to call you Scarhead and Mumbles!"

The watching crowd chuckled, Geoffrey noted that Scarhead didn't like that name he saw something flash in that thousand yard stare of his. Something about that flash in those haunted green eyes seemed to speak to him somehow, he should know this kid.

"No problem with cash, will these work?" Scarhead said and reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a small bag. He upended the bag and a small pile of gold coins appeared, he tossed one to Jack, "They are solid gold doubloons, I think the last time I had them looked at they were quoted at 500 pounds each."

"Yeah kid those will do fine, what about your friend Mumbles?"

Mumbles reached in and pulled out a similar pouch and tossed it to Jack "Go ahead and look inside. I promise they are real."

Jack opened the pouch and said "Ok Mumbles, I know where I can sell those for 200 pounds each. You leave that pouch on the table, you too Scarhead, and I'll give you some chips to use as markers." Jack shoved a stack of chips in front of both of them. "Your fellow players are Miss Tea," Jack pointed to a young brunette drinking a Long Island Iced Tea, "and Smog." He pointed to the other player at the game, an elderly gent heavily wrinkled who was chain smoking cigarettes.

Geoffrey watched as the game went on in the pattern he figured it would. Scarhead and Mumbles had both lost over half of their initial stake and he could tell that Jack was using the marked cards to pull it off. He looked at the clock on the wall and began to shuffle out the non players. He went to the table and whispered to Jack "You want me to get the two kids out of here as well?"

Jack gave the bouncer an odd look and then said to the table "All right folks, I know we play till we pass out usually, but as we have two new players we will let them decide. Well boys? Want to stay and play or go home?"

Scarhead looked at Mumbles, who just shrugged "We will keep playing."

"All right then, if you want more to drink let Geoffrey here know and he will get them from the bar."

Miss Tea asked for another Long Island Iced Tea and Smog asked for more Vodka. He went to the kids and asked "What will it be gents?"

"Bottle of Scotch and two glasses." Mumbles said

He went to the bar and told Candice the orders as the game continued.

"Whats with the two kids Geoff? They have been drinking a storm since they got here. They should be passed out by now." She said with a note of concern in her voice

"I don't know Candy but give me a pen and one of those napkins. Jack is cheating again and trying to take those kids to the cleaners." She grumbled about their bosses actions and handed the items over to Geoffrey who sketched out a quick note. Candice then handed him the scotch and glasses and took the other drinks over to the poker table.

Geoffrey set the napkins down on the table in front of the two players and then the glasses and bottle. He watched as Scarhead looked down at the message scrawled there

"_Kid the cards are marked_"

Scarhead looked up at Geoffrey with searching eyes and merely said "Thanks for the drinks Geoffrey."

He watched as the game continued on, Smog lost early and left without the keys to his car, Jack had won those a few hands before. Wasn't the first time Smog lost his wheels to Jack, he could afford it somewhat as Geoffrey knew they were all stolen anyways. Miss Tea was in trouble, she only had a few hundred pounds left in markers but when he caught a glimpse of her hand he noted that it was possible to pull something out with that, if the game wasn't rigged. Scarhead and Mumbles were both still pretty well off with worse hands than she had.

"I can't call with what I have," Miss Tea began Geoffrey groaned inside when he heard this. This is how Jack managed to get some of his more "personal" employees. "I would like to add an IOU/Service marker for the remainder."

The two kids shrugged their shoulders, although both looked uneasy about it. Jack just sat there with a face splitting grin and said "Of course Miss Tea. Go ahead." The lady added her written IOU to the pile and the other men followed with their calls.

"Full House Aces over 8's" Miss Tea Announced

"Beats me" Mumbles announced

"Me as well" Scarhead agreed

"Straight Flush 9 to King" Jack said with an evil grin. "Miss Tea please go and wait in the office so we may discuss your IOU in private after the game."

The lady seemed to shrink several sizes smaller as she got up and walked unsteadily to the office. Candice followed her in and quietly shut the door.

"Well gentlemen, I have business to attend to so lets play one more hand shall we?" Jack suggested

"Of course,"Scarhead replied "however I need to add some more cash to our funds." He reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet, from which he pulled a Black American Express card. "Do you know what this is Jack?"

Jack nodded dumbfounded at the proof of how rich this mark really was. "Those have no limit and must be payed in full at the end of every month! How do you.."

"Thats not important Jack. What is important is that we have taken a liking to this bar of yours, so here is the deal. No betting, you put all you have on the table, including that reprehensible IOU and the deed to this bar. We will match the total value if we lose immediately by going to a bank together in the morning. Deal or not?" Mumbles continued as Scarhead stared quietly at Jack.

Geoffrey just had to say something at this point "Boy..no excuse me Gentlemen, let me see that card please."

"Why?" Scarhead asked

"You expect me to believe that a 17 year old has access to that level of cash, dressed the way you are? Please give me some leeway for intelligence here. If Jack wasn't struck dumb by the thought of the money you are talking about he would be asking the same thing."

"Very well. Here use my cell phone to verify it." Scarhead handed both over, thats when Geoffrey finally figured out why the kid looked so familiar. He looked at the name on the card, blanched and then looked in wonder at the two at the table. The name read _Lord HJ Potter_. The other one just nodded and in his mind he heard in the voice of Mumbles "Yes troll-kin it is him."

Geoffrey thought back to the voice "But what of You-Know-Who?"

"Where do you think we just came from looking like this! Its all over except the body count." Mumbles replied sadly in his mind

"Jack its real." Geoffrey said quietly

"Aren't you going to call and verify it?"Jack sputtered

"Don't need to I know who this young man is, he has the funds to cover it."

"Whatever, its a deal Scarhead!" Jack said indignantly vowing to himself to fire or have Geoffrey disappeared soon.

The cards were dealt.

Five minutes later it was over. Jack didn't understand how he could have lost. The marks on the cards indicated that he had the winning hand with his four of a kind 7s. He stared numbly at the winning hand laid down by Scarhead and felt his anger growing, four 8's! His hand reached back for his hidden .38 special

"GUN!" Yelled Geoffrey as he started to dive at his former boss.

"STUPEFY!" the red light streaked from Harry's wand and nailed Jack square in the chest and he fell to the floor unconscious.

"Silencio" said Neville pointing at the door to the office "Colloportus!"

"AURORS! DROP YOUR WANDS NOW!" shouted a familiar voice over the popping noise of apparation.

"Hey Kingsley." Harry said as he walked over and kicked the gun away from the fallen man

"Harry! What happened to you?! We have been looking everywhere for you!" Kingsley replied

"Mr Shacklebolt, we were just playing a game of poker when this muggle tried to pull a gun on us for losing." Neville responded "Other than that we were toasting fallen friends and family after a very hard night."

"Alright I will tell Albus and your Grandmother you are alright. Do you need help getting home?" the auror asked

"No we should be fine, and feel free to not tell that old codger anything, oh we will have to Obliviate a few muggles." Harry replied

"Go ahead Harry, you were given permission to do magic earlier this year. I will be sure to tell Neville's gran that you are all ok then." with that the confused auror apparated away.

The rest of the evening happened rather quickly, Geoffrey remembered. The two had obliviated Jack and made him believe that he had been bought out of the bar, he left in the stolen car whose trunk was full of all the illicit drugs and guns. As the man drove away Geoffrey phoned in an anonymous call about a stolen car and guns. Jack was arrested a few hours later and should be out of prison by the time he reaches 70. Miss Tea and Candice were quickly stunned and obliviated and told the same story that they had witnessed Jack sign away the bar after losing in poker. Miss Tea never revealed her real name but was happy to be given her marker for service back without having to pay on it and went home.

While cleaning up after the poker game and fight, Geoffrey asked the new owners what they wanted to do with the place.

"We will clean it up and turn it into a decent night club," Harry started "you both will still be welcome to work here and will still be payed during the reconstruction." Harry yawned, which caused Neville to do the same. "In the meantime,we are closed till further notice, and we need to get home and get some sleep. Its been a really long day."

The two got up and left the bar, Geoffrey watched them turn around a corner and then heard the distinctive pop of apparation.


	2. Confrontation

_The Toad and the Stag used with permission from the story Harry Potter and the Marriage Contracts by Clelle65619 on _

**Confrontation**

Geoffrey walked to the bar slowly the next day thinking hard over what had happened and what he should do next. Potter had said that both he and Candice had jobs here after the remodeling was finished. What exactly they were going to do was not something he was really not sure, what could two barely legal teen wizards want with a run down seedy little joint like this one. He knew one thing for sure, and that was that he was going to at the least grab his stuff from the bar before any contractors started to work on the place, less embarrassing questions that way.

The quite rumble of motorcycles and some loud, crass laughter caught his attention as he got closer to the bar. "Oh great! I forgot its time for the Vipers to show up for their daily watering." He turned the last corner and approached the gang gathered outside the bar.

"Hey its Geoffrey! He will let us in to get something to drink!"

"Sorry Spike. The bar is closed until further notice, new owners are going to start remodeling soon, I am just here to get some of my stuff out of the bar before hand."

"What about our deal with Jack? We drink for free and his place don't get smashed up any, think the new owners will agree to that as well?" Spike was at least trying to be reasonable, although Geoffrey could see that anger was starting to overcome him.

"Well Spike," He tried to sound reasonable, "I haven't talked with the new owners much so I couldn't tell you." He looked around as the rest of the gang turned their bikes off to hear the conversation better. This was going to be real ugly real quick if Spike didn't go away soon, there were only ten of them there at the moment with their girls, but the gang was actually very large and known for its violent actions.

"Well how about you open up for us then and call your new owners and we can have a little talk" Spike growled his eyes going completely cold. "Or me and the boys can use you to open the place ourselves." Spike was used to getting his way with everyone, even Geoffrey, but didn't know that it was because Jack had ordered that Spike and his gang were not to be touched.

"Spike you and your friends need to leave. Now." Geoffrey was really starting to like the idea of stretching his muscles a bit, and there were only ten of them at the moment. His blood was starting to sing its ancient song in his ears of battle and glory. Time seemed to slow down and he watched dispassionately as Spike ordered some of the gang to deal with him.

Geoffrey ducked around the first punch, and caught the chain the other was using as it came at him. He yanked with a fraction of his true power and the thug lost his hold on the chain as he was pulled off his feet and fell face first onto the pavement. He then used the chain to take the legs out from under the first attacker, whose head cracked hard on the ground, neither of the attackers stood back up.

( A few hours earlier, Longbottom Manor)

Harry woke up with a groan for the aching in his head and the stiffness of all his muscles. He groped around for his glasses before realizing they were still on his face. He looked around and recognized the living room of the Longbottom manor a strange aroma hit his nose.

"faugh! I smell like a three knut whore!" he exclaimed. The noise woke the other inhabitant of the room who was lying face down on the ground.

"Please Harry! For Merlin's sake have some sympathy for the dying and keep it down!" Neville groaned and pushed himself up off the ground and looked out the window onto the front lawn

"Harry?" he started "Why is there a muggle car parked on my front lawn?"

At this point Madam Longbottom herself appeared in the room and began a long winded speech on the perils and pitfalls of overconsumption. She did so quite loudly and insisted on having the Wireless playing in the background as well. She kept it up for over an hour before she let the two have the hangover cure and go get showered and changed. While changing into fresh clothes Harry found two documents that brought the whole previous night back. One was a deed to a muggle bar and the other was a cocktail napkin with the name Candice and an address. After showing them to Neville and his Gran, both the boys decided to go and see what their investment looked like in the light of the day. And what better way to start, Neville had declared, than by going to see Candice whom he vaguely remembered as being the bartender last night.

(Candice's apartment)

She never really got to sleep last night after watching her job probably evaporate when jack signed away the bar. "Who knows what the two new owners would do with the place now" she mused silently to herself. "What was I doing when I gave the taller one my address and phone number." She said out loud to the other inhabitant of the apartment, her cat Scritches. The cat just sat on her lap and purred contentedly as she stroked it rhythmically.

The sudden knock on her door startled the cat into flight, as she went to go answer the door she got a hold of the cricket bat she kept by the door. She opened it slowly to see the same two young men from the previous night, looking way to good for the amount of drinking they had done the night before.

"Miss Candice?" The one with the scar said "If you don't remember us, we ended up with ownership of your place of employment last night. We would like to come in and talk with you if we may."

The following conversation with her two new bosses was both frank and enlightening, they wanted her to take them to the bar and show them around! They said they had no real plans at the moment but hoped that she might be able to advise them, it was almost like her dream come true even more so when they said that she would still receive pay while the bar was closed. She had quickly grabbed her coat and led them off down the street to the bar, something nagging the back of her mind like she forgot something important. "Oh its probably nothing" she mused to herself.

(Crumpled Horn Parking Lot)

Harry, Neville and Candice turned the corner of the street in time to see Geoffrey take out the two gang members.

"Who are the bikers Candice?" Harry asked her

"They are a gang that Jack bought off with free drinks, they provided him with some protection from other gangs or the bobby's, and helped him peddle some of his 'winnings'" She replied remembering now what had been nagging her before "Tonights the night they mostly show up for drinks, as Jack's card games always took place the same time each week."

"Well Geoffrey can sure fight!" Neville said in awe as the man in question took another biker out of the fight"Could have used him a few days ago hey Harry?"

Harry just chuckled as they continued to watch Geoffrey fight the biker gang "Candice here's my cell please call the police. Coming Nev?"

"Wouldn't miss it for anything!"

Candice quickly called the police and reported a fight at the Crumpled Horn.

Meanwhile, Harry and Neville approached the crowd around Geoffrey who was finally starting to have trouble with the 4 to 1 odds. The two didn't give their opponents a chance to know they were there, Neville shattered the kneecap of one of the bikers and ducked the startled attack of his neighbor. Harry used his mobility to his advantage and led his opponent to within reach of Geoffrey, who used him as a club against the remaining three combatants. Harry moved in and helped Neville finish off his second opponent with a vicious kidney punch.

Geoffrey had begun to panic there for a moment when he saw Candice and his new bosses come around the corner after the first two thugs went down. He knew he had to finish the fight quickly and put a third down when the remaining five got off their bikes and waded in to fight. "Oh crap!" he had thought to himself. Then Neville and Harry had waded in and cut the odds down to something reasonable. By the time it was all over, 7 thugs were on the ground and not moving, the wail of police sirens could be heard off in the distance.

"Get out of here you guys, I will talk things out with the cops. You don't need to go through that." He had offered only to have them both refuse.

"We are going to be placing charges on them for endangering our employee and property." They had stated

The talk with the constables had gone very smoothly once _Lord_ Potter and _Lord_ Longbottom had introduced themselves as the new owners of the property and the bikers were hauled off for treatment and processing.


End file.
